* Man, I really need a break. I went to the bank twice yesterday and never did do a deposit. The first time I actually forgot to bring the checks. On the second trip I absentmindedly grabbed the wrong envelope off the table, so no checks again.

Oy.

My brain is fried, campers, and so are my nerves. I need to be away from computers, Interwebtubes, telephones and deadlines for a little while. I’ll be back in the new year. I hope all of you have a wonderful and joyous holiday season. And, please, Gov. Quinn, no big announcements while I’m away. Thanks.

* Before I go, Fox Chicago has two new stories on Cardinal George…

* Cardinal George: GOP in ‘Impossible Bind’ on Immigration: George pointed to passages in the Bible, including, “The principle is we’re all made in God’s image and likeness, starting with Genesis. So, you start with respect. And we’re still human, no matter what legal status is. Laws are not absolute.”

* Cardinal Francis George on Christmas and Public Policy Disputes in Chicago: Quinn made similar references to his personal conscience when defending his support for civil unions for same-sex couples. “It’s what he had said, particularly around the civil unions bill, that it was his faith that was prompting him to do this,” the Cardinal said. “And he’s done that on several occasions. It’s also disquieting that he would say, ‘There’s a law and therefore everybody obeys it.’ What if the law’s immoral? I mean, every government has always said that: ‘You must obey the law!’ And people of faith have often said, ‘Well, we will, up to a point,’” the Cardinal continued. “That’s why there are martyrs. If the law is, you know — Everything done in Germany in the 1930s was done legally. But the laws were immoral,” the Cardinal concluded.